Why Africa so worried about Mpox rather than COVID-19? – Expert’s Perspective

Breaking Down the Outbreak

Mpox, a rare disease primarily in West and Central Africa, is now leaping from continent to continent as cases rise in the US, Europe and Australia. Despite the spread of the virus, there is no danger of a large-scale outbreak of a new type of infection, and it is in no way comparable to COVID-19.

Professional Perspectives on Mpox Outbreak

Dr. Edwards said:

“This particular virus is not very transmissible human to human, as COVID-19. It also becomes easier to contain the affected people and, in the process, curb the spread of the virus. Transmission occurs through contact—physical touching, especially if this is prolonged—or contact with blood and other body fluids or with the skin lesions of the case. It can also be transmitted face-to-face via respiratory droplets, direct contact, or contact with contaminated nests or clothing. We have not found any evidence that it can be transmitted through the air, the way the coronavirus is. Moreover, monkeypox is not spread until the person who has contracted it develops signs of the class B infectious disease. This makes it very easy to quarantine the patients and their contacts and thereby avoid the spread of the virus.

Boghuma Titanji, MD, MSc, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University said

“Although Mpox is a global threat in terms of its ability to spread and cause a significant global outbreak like we saw in 2022, it had fallen out of the news headlines, I’m hoping that this declaration would certainly focus the global attention on the importance of containing the outbreak while it’s still geographically limited, so that we don’t see further extension to other parts of the world.”.

Tracing the Origins: The First Case of Mpox

The first recorded human fatality of monkeypox was a nine-month-old boy in then-Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1970. There was a more widespread monkeypox outbreak reported shortly in 2022–2023.
WHO’s emergency declaration on monkeypox comes a day after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described it as a public health crisis in Africa. So far this year, WHO says there have been over 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa—figures that are already higher than last year’s numbers. Monkeypox has been identified in at least 13 African countries. For the same reason, and up to date, over 96% of both cases and deaths are recorded in a single country, Congo.

However, there has been a new and worrying trend emerging only in the last few weeks. Some countries have recorded monkeypox incidences even though they did not have the disease before. WHO has reported 50+ confirmed cases and more than this many suspected cases in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Having in mind previous health crises, the Africa CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) is trying to act fast and enlist the aid of the international community. “We were left on our own during COVID, and we do not wish to be left again, hence the move,” says Dr. Kaseya, noting that the African Union gave the agency new powers in 2023 to declare a public health emergency. The agency has said, Dr. Kaseya, that it consulted over 600 opinions, and the scientific committee involved in the monkeypox situation agreed by show of hand to endorse the emergency declaration.

Dr. Kaseya worrying that about 70% of the cases in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) are kids of a tender age below the age of 18. “This one is a major alarm for the world. The world, and in particular Africa, is losing the youth” he said. We haven’t found any evidence that it can be transmitted through the air, the way the coronavirus does.

Experts believe the higher number of cases and deaths among children is due to a lack of protection from the smallpox vaccine, which was discontinued after the related virus was eradicated in 1980, as well as the fact that approximately 40% of children in the region are malnourished, making it more difficult for their bodies to fight the virus.

Ayurveda offers a holistic approach to managing diseases like Mpox

Monkeypox should be managed symptomatically and can be managed through ayurvedic remedies. For fever, it is possible to give “Maha Sudarshan Ghana Vati, Laxmivilas Rasa, Shamshamani Vati, and Amritarishta. For rakta and Pitta dusti, Panchanimbadi Vati/Churna, Haridra Khand, Aragwadharishta, and Brihat Manjisthadi Kwath can be used.”

Langhana (fasting): The patient doses may be kept on langhana. It means that refusal to eat food or eating little portions of the food.

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